Rio Ferdinand has questioned the ‘environment’ and ‘culture’ at Tottenham by comparing them to Liverpool, as he told Vibe with Five.
The former defended named the likes of Virgil Van Dijk, Alisson Becker, Mo Salah, Sadio Mane, Andy Robertson, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Diogo Jota as the players who have ‘gone to the next level’ on Merseyside.
Ferdinand puts that down to the ‘leaders, culture and coaching’ at Liverpool and suggested that’s what is missing at Spurs because, whilst the value of Liverpool players sky-rocket, those in north London see their value diminish.
Over the weekend, Tottenham suffered a 2-0 defeat to Wolves and their third on the bounce under Antonio Conte.
It just further signifies the mess they are in and Ferdinand tried to explain what might be the issue by using Liverpool as an example.
“You don’t need motivating, you have to get your mind right,” said Ferdinand. “But you need the manager to drive the ship. The managers have a huge impact on the culture and the way things are run.
“When you look at clubs, we are talking about Spurs, but it’s the same at Man United, Liverpool, all the clubs in the league. When you recruit players, a good yardstick at the coaching of your football club is when them players come. Do they get better?
“When you look at Liverpool. Van Dijk’s gone to another level. Alisson has gone to another level, regardless of the fees that they paid. Robertson from Hull gone to another level. Salah and Mane gone to crazy levels. Players that are even there. Trent has gone to another level. Jota, signs for £40 million, another level.
“So, you can see that the culture and environment that they have got tells you that they are doing it right because the players they sign, their value exceeds what they came in for.
“But you look at Spurs, players are going in and you are thinking ‘we aren’t going to be able to get half our money back’ because they go there and don’t improve. That’s down to leadership, culture and coaching.”
Jurgen Klopp needed several years to well and truly get Liverpool back where they are now and end 30 years without an English league title.
The problem facing Conte is that Spurs haven’t been crowned champions of England since the 1960s, so this is a different kettle of fish altogether.
That’s the type of stormy waters Conte is used to swimming in and he won’t like what he is seeing, at this moment in time.
That’s when the likes of Daniel Levy and Fabio Paratici come in because they have to provide him with the resources in the transfer market, else a lot will worry about him walking.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
